Landlocked Social House, a new coffee shop hoping to open sometime in May is running a kickstarter. The goal would be to finalize the build-out of the shop and open to the public. I got a sneak peak a couple Fridays ago, the space is still raw but has tons of potential. Anne and Andrew Decker, the owners use beans sourced from Wood Burl in Dayton. If you've ever been to Trailhead Coffee in Newport you already know how amazing Wood Burl Coffee is.
For participating in the kickstarter there is swag up for grabs and for a $25 or greater pledge you'll receive a private party invite.
If you are a fan of coffee shops or Walnut Hills show your support!

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You hear this lament from guys, girls don't want nice guys they're attracted to bad boys.
The dirty little secret is girls don't like bad boys because they're bad, they like them because they aren't boring and give them stories to tell their friends.
Now this doesn't have have anything to do with picking up girls but it does have everything to do with not being boring.
Back at the dawn of social media Shebar shows up in Cincinnati like one of those old school journalists in a film noir.
Ride alongs in cop cars, getting fired from newspapers and some of the craziest stories you'll ever hear.
So the moral of the story here is, if you aren't boring it opens doors and when this obscure startup, yelp, opened shop in Cincinnati Alex was standing there holding the door for them.
Long story short Cincinnati was too small and Shebar lands in London for the last 5 years until yelp crashes and burns internationally.
But really this was just a long-winded way to express how cool it was to see Alex again in the states.
Don't be a stranger up there in Chicago man!

[where: 45202]best place to learn how to live downtown cincinnati ohio the ethos of Cincinnaticomments?

Lots of things I love, my wife of course. Cincinnati, cigars, photography and beer. But one thing I really love is coffee. For instance, the other day I hit an up and coming shop and asked which roaster were they sourcing their beans. Wood Burl Coffee they replied and i tasted it and thought "of course it is"
Now I don't think I could do a true blind taste test. but if someone sat down three coffees and told me what one of them was, assuming it was a local roaster, I think I could pick it out.
With that in mind I couldn't miss Collective espresso's 2nd Annual Thursday Night Coffee Throwdown at the CAC. Baristas from as far away as Louisville and Columbus competed for latte art dominance. Elizabeth Landis took home the trophy.

[where: 45202]best place to learn how to live downtown cincinnati ohio the ethos of Cincinnaticomments?

The world changes fast, even faster these days with social media. I can't even imagine what is like for old guys like the Austin Poweresque evil bad guys, the Joseph brothers. In the old days, circa 2013, they could quietly buy a historic building, sit on it for a few years until everyone forgot about it then tear it down.
That was the old days before supporters of history, particularly Cincinnati history, became highly networked.
And now the Joseph's are shocked SHOCKED that anyone would dare oppose them.

“I don’t know who all these people are,....You have a small vocal group who wants to say our client took down a landmark building (a historic building in a historic district but whatever).” ~ Joseph's spokesdick

You almost have to feel sorry for them, in the old days money bought whatever the Joseph's wanted. Money still buys whatever they want, the only difference is in 2017 they are squinting and squirming in the harsh glare of social and news media while doing it.

[where: 45202]best place to learn how to live downtown cincinnati ohio the ethos of Cincinnaticomments?

Does anyone need an excuse to hit a coffee shop? Not really, but when Ohio Explored visits Urbana Cafe on their Ohio coffee shop tour that is all the excuse that is needed.
They had a cool little popup shop filled with all things Ohio made in Ohio.

While you're at Urbana do not skip the amazing "poptarts" from Chef Ben, they're incredible.

[where: 45202]best place to learn how to live downtown cincinnati ohio the ethos of Cincinnaticomments?

Finally made it over to Bellevue to drink delectable locally made beer. Everything you want in a brewery, a comfortable seating area inside and a nice outside area for hanging out. And the way this "winter" is going we put it to good use and smoked a couple cigars along with the beers.
I have at least five breweries now just a short bike ride away, is this a great city or what?[where: 45202]best place to learn how to live downtown cincinnati ohio the ethos of Cincinnaticomments?

Since the first day I moved to Cincinnati Race St has been the artery I use most getting around downtown. And one of the highlights of Race as always is walking past the Landor windows and this seasons tribute to Anne Wainscott.
Is she still kicking around? When I first met her a few years ago she was closing on centennial status. Also along the same lines, what ever happened to the Dockside Brewing guys?[where: 45202]best place to learn how to live downtown cincinnati ohio the ethos of Cincinnaticomments?

After my first visit to Pizzeria Locale I said "I couldn't get over the flavor in the crust, the perfect amount of salt that pops the other flavors."
Recently I found out exactly why Pizzeria Locale's crust pops.
The short story is that the reason their crust is so good is because of what it isn't.
The long story goes something like this.
Globalization. Mass production.
Sure these things drive down prices. But at what cost? When you're looking to eat out should your primary focus be on quality or price?
Fast food pizza starts at huge industrial plants and up to 22 additives are added to the dough to solve all kinds of problems that mass production creates.
Additives so the dough can travel, additives to keep the dough pliable, to keep the flavor, to keep its texture.
Pizzeria Locale makes all their dough the night before and then lets it panify overnight.
What you get is dough made with four ingredients; water, flour, yeast and salt. One note on the salt, it isn't added at the beginning to dissolve in the water, they wait until the mixing of the other ingredients is finished and the salt is added almost as an afterthought. Except it isn't, it is calculated.
I have to add one more thing here that I really enjoyed about this visit.
There is one experience I will never tire of, and that is listening to anyone passionate about their art expound and geek out. As Jim Davidson and Manager Rob would be discussing pizza dough, I could see co-owner Lachlan Mackinnon-Patterson getting antsy in the background. Suddenly he would burst, not because Jim or Rob were saying anything wrong. But Mr. Mackinnon-Patterson was just so excited about dough he couldn't contain himself any longer. I learned way more, and was entertained way more than I thought I would be.
If Pizzeria Locale doesn't take these shortcuts how they keep costs down is the last unanswered question. The wood fired oven is gas/electric with a rotating table heated from below and with flames above. This is where they save costs, there is no wood and the pizzas don't need to be continually shuffled around inside the over chasing hot spots.
There you have it, the "labor" is spent on the crust where you can taste it resulting in a higher quality, lower cost pizza anyone can afford.
Jim Davidson kicks everything off with a discussion of the oven.
And at this point I was glad I had a large coffee before showing up. Mr. Mackinnon-Patterson really started geeking out right here, going on about yeast digesting proteins and out-gassing CO2. I grabbed his coat tails and hung on tight, fermentation, proofing and folding. I'm glad I still remember the chemistry courses I had in college.[where: 45202]best place to learn how to live downtown cincinnati ohio the ethos of Cincinnaticomments?

I'm still a picky eater but at one point in time I was really picky. I'm talking plain pasta, dry toast picky.
Eating was just another task to rush through and finish. Then I met Laura and David and it is no exaggeration to say they blew my mind food wise.
I actually started thinking about what I was eating and that, holy shit, fresh quality ingredients made all the difference in the world.
And here is the thing, I'd take a taste something and I could tell there were all kinds of things going on but I couldn't identify them. David can relate everything he is tasting, once he points it out I can pick out every nuance he just articulated. Interesting, cool stuff.
Another interesting fact about the 'Nomerati, she can't just have dinner. Oh no, it has to be an event.
Which is why I never pass up an invitation to eat anything she serves. I even gave tofu an honest try. I didn't like it but I tried it.
(They were really big chunks and I've heard small pieces are the way to go.)
Hey look, a Lucky Cat army![where: 45202]best place to learn how to live downtown cincinnati ohio the ethos of Cincinnaticomments?